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Monday, 28 April 2014

Today’s post focuses on the difficulty and expense it takes to become a pro
golfer.I found the perfect example of
this with Andrew Par who is now 31 years old and is from London, Ontario.Since 2007 Andrew has played in numerous pro
tour events all over the world.Scott
Stinson had a fantastic interview with Andrew and I wanted to share it with my
viewers.

We all know golf is a unique sport but Scott has put it on its own page with
the following comments: “Unlike team sports, where minor leaguers at least have
a steady paycheque and a franchise that covers expenses like travel and meals,
golf is ruthlessly capitalist. You make what you earn, but it takes money to
try to earn it.”

“You need about $75,000 for a season,” says Parr, speaking over the phone
from San Francisco. Plane tickets, car rentals, hotels, food: all of it the
golfer has to pay out of pocket, and with no promise of money earned at the end
of the week. For that, the player has to make the cut. “It can cost 25 grand
just to get a caddy to sign on for a year,” Parr says. “And if you miss the
cut, you probably just spent two or three grand for that week with nothing
coming back. So, yeah, it does take a lot of money.”

Young golfers are usually fronted with money from a mix of sources: small
sponsorship deals, often from hometown companies, donations from the community
or straight-up investors. A friend of his, Parr says, secured a group of 20
investors who put in $5,000 a year for three years. That gave him $300,000 of
seed money, which is great, but that also needs to be paid back. Fewer than 100
players earned more than $55,000 on the Web.com Tour, one step below the PGA,
last season, so it’s not like easy riches await.“Most guys are paying back 80 to 90% of any cheque they get in the first few
years,” says Parr.

It really puts into perspective how much pressure is on these guys and why
they react the way they do on the golf course.

Friday, 25 April 2014

Today’s Blog
focuses on a couple of rules that most golfers know but do not know the extent
of the rules. To the fans that watch
PGA and LPGA events please review the rules before calling in to the tournament
headquarters.

Mike Dudurich
wrote about the following rules in his article for the Bleacher Report

Removing Morning Dew from Your Ball

If you are one of those golfers who loves to
get out early, a.k.a., a "dewsweeper," your ball is almost always
covered with that morning dew. If you are in the habit of wiping that dew off
with your hands or a towel, you are in violation of Rule 13-2. Dew-wiping is a
two-stroke offense. Dew, frost or water may be removed on the tee box before hitting
the ball.

Flagstick Attended, Removed or
Held Up

Good old Rule 17-1, Note 1 refers to
something we all do without realizing that it’s against the rules.

You are chipping or putting from off the
green, and someone is standing near the flagstick on the green. If that person
is close enough to touch the stick, he is deemed to be attending it while a
stroke is being made. So if your ball hits the flagstick, you are penalized two
strokes, even though you were playing off the green.

A Bunker Under Water

If you’re playing on a rainy day and insist
on continuing even when the heavy stuff comes in, you may encounter the bunker
that’s completely filled with water.

The only relief a player may take is to move
the ball within the bunker to where there is less water.

The only way to drop the ball outside the
bunker is to take a penalty stroke, keeping the point where the ball lay
directly between the hole and where the ball is dropped.

Who’s Ball Is It?

You’ve played one of your favourite balls
with a “1” on it and hit it into a greenside bunker. Your playing partner hits
his ball to almost the identical spot, and when you get there, you discovered
he was playing the same ball with a “1” as well.

Neither one of you put an identifying mark
on the ball. What to do?

Rule 12-2 says that both balls are viewed as
lost and both players are penalized a stroke and need to go back to play their
previous shots.

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Anybody who has
played golf knows the importance of the mental game.During a golf swing we have a million different things running through our head and that's before you add sand traps, water, and dog legs into the equation. Second guessing, doubting, and instinct all come
in to play whether you are a professional or amateur golfer.

Today’s blog
focuses on Graeme McDowell’s way of dealing with the mental element of the game
of golf.He really enforces that it’s
not about muting negativity from your mind completely its about moderating it
to better help you with your next shot.McDowell
insists negativity is normal. "Accepting the fact that it's human instinct
and actually having an internal conversation" is McDowell way of playing
through the doubts that occur during a round of golf.. "It's not like I'm
crazy or anything. I'm just accepting the fact that negativity is okay."

To retain focus on
important strokes, McDowell follows the advice of U.K.-based sports
psychologist Karl Morris,
who taught the PGA star that, paradoxically, questions were the answer to
self-doubt. "You have to ask yourself the right questions," McDowell
says. He focuses on three specific queries: "What am I trying to do? Where
am I trying to hit this ball? How am I going to get it there?" The key, he
adds, it to avoid ever wondering "what can go wrong?"

McDowell's
thinking is actually very simple: "Positive questions lead to positive answers. He's not
looking for a solution to long term problems." Instead, he's focused narrowly on
the task at hand. He says "this is the key for golfers tortured by their
psyches." "Ask yourself good questions," he says. "Your mind will
respond with the right answers."

Monday, 14 April 2014

There’s nothing like starting off the golf season with the
Masters.I can’t imagine a better way to
showcase golf and its tradition.I love absolutely
everything about the Masters.I love the
hype, the beautiful scenery, the fabulous outfits, the meltdowns, the roars,
and the passion.

This years masters lived up to all my expectations.We had some serious meltdowns that I wont
even address…cough Rory getting beat by the Club Champion of
Augusta..cough.We had some fantastic
outfits thanks to Rickie Fowler and we had a variety of leaders throughout the
four days which goes to show you anything and I mean anything can happen on
Masters weekend.

Before I get to congratulate Bubba I want to give a shout
out to Jordan Spieth.You played so well
and everybody says of you have so much time ahead of you and you do but just
know we are proud of you for never backing down and making the win for Bubba
not too easy.I know you will be back
and even better for your next tournament so keep fighting...

Now on to the champion and the name buzzed around 220
countries BUBBA WATSON.I am a big fan
of Bubba.I am so pleased that he was
able to come back and win after last years disappointing showing.I also want to point out that he is a Ping
player and I love everything Ping.

"After giving it away last year, I wanted it back," Watson said. "I told Adam we could just swap it back and forth every year."

Where else would Bubba Watson go after winning the Masters
but the Waffle House? At about 1:30 in the morning, Watson, his wife Angie and
several friends hit a Waffle House somewhere near Augusta National to
celebrate.

Friday, 11 April 2014

Day one of the Masters has come and gone.Some surprises, some confusion, some really
nice long putts and our 2013 Champion in the running.I would have to say that Thursday Round 1 was
considered a success.Surprisingly was
the way the field took to the course on round one.I was shocked at the number of players with
80+ scores.Thursday proved to be a
difficult test for all participates.

Bill Haas fired an impressive opening round 68 to hold the
first-round lead all by himself. Haas bogeyed the opening hole, but played his
final 17 at 5-under to grab the clubhouse lead after day one. The most exciting part of the day was when previous
champions Adam Scott and Bubba Watson came in with a 3 under score.

I was happy to see the following names: Rory McIlroy, Jordan
Spieth, Fred Couples and Rickie Fowler that were also able to post an opening
round under par, getting themselves in a great spot with 54 holes remaining.They have all been featured on my blog at
some point.I would really like to see
Jordan and Rickie fire low rounds going into the weekend.

Hole # 12 the beautiful par 3 proved to be a challenge for
the boys on Thursday.Adam Scott found
the water and made a double-bogey, Oosthuizen couldn't avoid the water on the
par-3 and even McIlroy, who found the green, three-putted for a water-free
bogey.

I can hardly wait what the next three days brings for
us!Look forward to taking it all in
stride.